Category: Young Adult/New Adult

Posted in Fiction, Horror, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Skin crawling YA horror: The Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

women-in-the-wallsThe Women in the Walls, by Amy Lukavics (Sept. 2016, Harlequin Teen), $18.99, ISBN: 9780373211944

Recommended for ages 13+

Lucy Acosta lives with her cousin, Margaret, her aunt, Penelope, and her father, Felix, in a Victorian mansion in the middle of the woods. Her mother died when she was three, leaving her to be raised by her loving aunt and distant father. When Lucy is 17, Penelope takes a walk into the woods and disappears, throwing the household into chaos. Margaret, Penelope’s daughter, is becoming unhinged, telling Lucy that she hears her dead mother talking to her through the walls, telling her to join her. Her father, obsessed with throwing dinner parties for the exclusive club he belongs to, ignores Lucy’s pleas for help; he won’t accept any sign of weakness. As Lucy tries to get to the bottom of the voices in the walls, she starts hearing them too; and when she begins digging into her family’s legacy, the things she find may doom her.

This was a gloriously creepy novel with just enough gore to move it from haunted house novel to horror. Think Wicker Man meets The Legacy (wow, did I just date myself with that reference), with wonderful madness tossed in, to make things interesting. Be warned, delicate sensibilities and stomachs may find some of the language and violence too much. This is not a book for your conservative readers.

Lucy and Margaret are fairy skin-deep characters with the potential for deeper storytelling, but it’s not really their story, as you’ll discover. The real development is going on around them. Think of Lucy as the narrator – which she is – and the host of the story. She’s the central character, but she’s in the dark almost as much as we readers are. The supporting characters are where the story lies, and when the elements all come together, this is a page-turning read. Horror and suspense fans will enjoy this one.

Posted in Middle School, Non-Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Trying to Float: A New York Childhood

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

trying to floatTrying to Float: Coming of Age in the Chelsea Hotel, by Nicolaia Rips, (July 2016, Scribner), $25, ISBN: 978-1501132988

Recommended for ages 14+

New York City’s Chelsea Hotel is part muse, part myth. Home to countless artists, luminaries, and eccentric personalities over since it opened its doors in the late 19th century, the Chelsea  seemingly received as much inspiration as it gave. Art decorated the walls of the hotel, often put there by artists moved to add their voice to the hotel’s presence. Among the more recent Chelsea residents were the Rips family: lawyer, Michael, model-turned-artist, Sheila, and their daughter, Nicolaia. It’s Nicolaia’s story we get in Trying to Float: Coming of Age in the Chelsea Hotel.

Nicolaia wrote the memoir of her formative years at the Chelsea before she graduated high school. The project was inspired by her parents, who told her to journal her stories from school and life in general – so kids, take those journaling assignments seriously! Nicolaia’s story, told in a series of anecdotes and memories, alternates between laugh-out loud funny and painfully spot on. She was the lonely kid in the crowd, her parents often wrapped up in their own eccentricities, and she seemed to figure out a lot on her own, or with the help of some of the Chelsea residents.

Her self-deprecation and her wise-beyond-her-years insights make this book an unputdownable read. Teens will love this because they’ll identify with so many moments: mortification at a birthday party, mean girls spreading rumors about you right in front of you, a parent making you want to move away and start life over under the teenager’s version of a witness/parent protection program. New Yorkers and people who love New York will love it because it’s a slice of life in New York City.

Trying to Float received a starred review from Kirkus. Do not miss this one. Get a copy for yourself, get a copy for a teen in your life, and booktalk it with some more New York stories. There are tons out there, including the photo essay book, Living in the Chelsea Hotel by Linda Troeller.

Posted in Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Boarding school thriller: Assassin Game

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

assassin gameAssassin Game, by Kirsty McKay, (Aug. 2016, Sourcebooks Fire), $10.99, ISBN: 9781492632757
originally published July 2015 as Killer Game

recommended for ages 12+

Cate attends an isolated boarding school where, every year, a select few are chosen to play a secret game called Killer. One person in the group is designated the Killer, who will play pranks on the rest of the group, “killing” them – put a rubber snake in a desk, a brightly colored water pistol fired at just the right time – as long as it doesn’t get out of control or disrupt classes, the faculty and staff tolerate The Game. Cate is thrilled to have been chosen, because she feels like she finally belongs in this school of “superkids”: geniuses and rich kids, all. At first, the game progresses as normal, but soon, one of the players has taken the Game too far, and Cate is next on the Killer’s list. Can she figure out who the Killer is in time to save herself?

I love good thrillers, and if they take place in an out-of-the-way location like a school, library, old hospital, even better. The Assassin Game has a great setting: a Welsh boarding school in the middle of nowhere, and an interesting cast of characters, but it does take a little while to build up steam. It’s a quick read, and there are some great pranks, plus high school friendship/relationship drama to bring things to a simmer and add some fuel to the whodunit fire. There’s not a lot of depth to the characters, but there doesn’t really need to be; that’s not what this book is about. You learn what you need to about them, and you learn enough to try and figure out motivations and who would have reason to burn whom.

If you have readers that like a slow-burn thriller with a satisfying payoff, give Assassin Game a shot.

Posted in Fantasy, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

Beauty and the Beast, retold: Roses by Rose Mannering

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

rosesRoses, by Rose Mannering, (May 2016, Sky Pony), $6.99 via Kindle, ASIN: B01EEQ9D7Q

Recommended for ages 12+

The first in The Tales Trilogy, which will bring well-known fairy tales together in a war-torn fantasy world, Roses is the story of Beauty and the Beast. A nameless young girl arrives to live in the city of Sago, a ward of the wealthy Ma and Pa Dane. She is unusual, with silvery skin, white hair, and violet eyes; in a world where magical beings are feared and loathed, her appearance causes eyebrows to raise. At first, Ma Dane horribly mistreats the girl, even hiring a cruel nanny to beat her and verbally abuse her. As the girl grows older and Ma Dane is reminded of a promise she made long ago, her relationship to the girl becomes more of a showpiece, trotting her out so visitors can gawk at her. She’s given the name Beauty as a cruel joke. When Sago goes through an uprising where magical beings are hunted down, Beauty is sent with Ma Dane’s master of horse, Owaine, to flee into the hill lands for her own safety. Eventually, though, even the hills aren’t safe for Beauty, and she’s forced to run again: this time, to a castle and a Beast, who holds a terrible secret.

Rose Mannering builds an incredible fantasy world in Roses. I wasn’t sure where the book was going at first, to be honest; the Beauty and the Beast part of the story builds gradually, with the first half of the book giving us Beauty’s background. I would have loved more of Beauty and the Beast, because their relationship is masterfully shaped and formed. It looks like we’ll likely get more of these two in future Tales, as it looks like Beauty is going to be a key character in this trilogy.

There are themes of child abuse and bullying, secrets kept and mysterious amulets abound in this first volume. Fantasy and fairy tale fans will be thrilled with a new series to love, and YA romance fans will be drawn to it, because Beauty and the Beast is THE romance! (Beauty and the Beast fans: YES, there is a library, and YES, it is just as breathtaking as your imagination makes it.)

There are so many great YA fairy tale retellings to booktalk this with: your Marissa Meyers’ Lunar Chronicles, Sarah Cross’ Beau Rivage series, Colleen Oakes’ Queen of Hearts – these are just a few. You can start a book group with all of the fairy tales being rewritten these days; ask your readers to read the original tale and the revamp, and talk about the similarities, differences, additions to the worlds, even show the original movies. Our fairy tales have had new lives breathed into them as we hold onto them, which could be a whole topic of discussion, too. We have Disney Princesses as tattooed pin-ups and weapon-wielding warriors, and we’re imagining Disney Princes are real-life people. There’s a lot to talk about here!

Roses is a promising beginning to a new fantasy series. A good add to fantasy collections. The hardcover was published in 2013 and is now available in paperback. I read the Kindle edition for my review, which is also available. The second book in the Tales Trilogy, Feathers, was published in June.

Posted in Fiction, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Conspiracies and Aliens! The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

alienationThe Alienation of Courtney Hoffman, by Brady Stefani (June 2016, SparkPress), $14.95, ISBN: 9781940716343

Recommended for ages 12+

Courtney Hoffman is a 15 year-old whose biggest fear is that she’s going insane, like her grandfather did. When she was 7, her alien-obsessed grandfather had her tattooed with a strange symbol, and then he tried to drown her in his bathtub. She’s lived with this for years, but now, the aliens are visiting her in her bedroom. Her mother and her mother’s doctor boyfriend are more concerned with trying to commit her so they don’t have to deal with her anymore – stellar parenting, right? – and she’s just discovered that the girl she grew up envisioning as her imaginary friend is real, that she’s got some alien obsessions issues of her own, but that she’s also got information that will help Courtney get the whole story about her grandfather and about herself. There are secret societies, family secrets, and conspiracies aplenty to be had.

There is a lot going on in The Alienation of Courtney Hoffman: think X-Files meets DaVinci Code, with family drama tossed into the middle of it all. Courtney’s mother is just an awful human being that shouldn’t even have custody of her older daughter; she’s more concerned with getting her locked away so she can focus on her Courtney’s younger sister and her sleazy doctor boyfriend. Courtney’s father is almost nonexistent, except for that one time he bailed her out of the nuthouse and let her stay with him for the summer to let things blow over. What kind of father lets his daughter go back to a woman like Courtney’s mother? Agatha, Courtney’s imaginary friend who’s not so imaginary, is a tough character to like; she vacillates between trying to help Courtney and being obnoxious and rude. Agatha has alien visitation history of her own, and ends up helping Courtney figure out more than she does to push her away, which ends up being a huge plus.

Overall, this was a promising paranormal adventure that just needed a little more structure to be unputdownable. If you really love alien visitation theories and stories, take a chance on Courtney Hoffman; I was hoping for just a little more.

Posted in Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Tone Deaf: YA romance with a little extra

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

tone deafTone Deaf, by Olivia Rivers (May 2016, Sky Pony Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781634507073

Recommended for ages 13+

When Ali Collins agrees to go to a concert with her best friend, Avery, she never expects her life to change, but that’s exactly what happens when she wins a backstage tour and meet and greet with Jace, the heartthrob lead singer of the band. Jace, however, is a moody, unpleasant jerk who flips her off when he discovers that she’s deaf. It’s only when Jace’s manager insists that he track Ali down to apologize – he doesn’t need any more bad press – that Jace sees the bruises. Ali lives her with father, a retired police chief, who abuses her, and Ali’s got a plan to run away. When Jace – who has demons of his own – offers Ali the chance to help her escape to New York, she takes him up on it and finds herself traveling cross-country with Tone Deaf, Jace’s band. Spending time together, the two learn that they have more in common than they could have imagined. Can Ali stay hidden while her father uses all of his resources to bring her home? And what happens after she reaches New York, and she and Jace part ways?

Tone Deaf is an interesting take on YA romance. There’s a little something in here for everyone: disability, LGBT characters, animal rescue, and child abuse. It sounds like a lot to throw into one book, but it flows nicely and all the elements come together to create a readable story. Jace is the brooding hero with the deep, tortured past; Ali is the EveryGirl that needs to take her life back. They can’t stand one another, but you know they’re going to fall in love, and it’s all good. Romance readers will enjoy the story, and additional resources provide information and links about the Deaf community.

A good additional add for your YA collections, especially where romance does well.

 

Posted in Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Cresswell Plot: Father doesn’t know best

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

creswellplotThe Cresswell Plot, by Eliza Wass (June 2016, Disney-Hyperion), $17.99, ISBN: 9781484730430

Recommended for ages 14+

Castella Cresswell is a 16 year-old living in rural upstate New York with her 5 siblings, her disabled mother, and her father, a religious zealot who believes that everyone except his family is evil and doomed to Hell. To keep the devil away from his family, he limits their interactions with other people; the kids go to public school, because they must, after a previous visit from Child Protective Services, and he insists that the siblings will marry one another in the afterlife. He’s even matched them up accordingly. I’ll let that sink in for a sec before I continue.

Castella is caught between loyalty to her family and the desire to be a normal teen, going to parties and having friends. She’s increasingly unsure about her father’s prophecies and revelations, and she just wants to save her siblings and break away from their controlling, abusive father. Her siblings have mixed emotions about Castella’s actions and ideas; whether they stem from truly being brainwashed by their father or being fearful of making waves, we never quite get: I expect it lies somewhere in between.

The Cresswell Plot is a book you sit down to read, and don’t move until you’re finished. It’s a fast read, it’s a disturbing read, but there were parts to the story that were missing; chunks that I feel could have made for an even more compelling read. I wanted more background on the Cresswell patriarch, and an entire suplot feels glanced over, really needing more development. The characters were all on the verge of being fully fleshed out, but missed nuances that really would create fully realized personalities. More conservative readers will find the subject matter – domestic violence, child abuse, references to incest – disturbing.

I enjoyed The Cresswell Plot, I just wanted more of it. I’ve heard this book compared to Flowers in the Attic, but I found more in common with Lisa Heathfield’s Seed.

Posted in Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Whodunit? Secrets, Lies, and Scandals

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

secrets liesSecrets, Lies, and Scandals, by Amanda K. Morgan, (July 2016, Simon Pulse), $17.99, ISBN: 9781481449540

Recommended for ages 14+

A much-loathed teacher dies. Five students are in the room. What happened? Who’s responsible? Most importantly, can they all keep it a secret, or will one of them break? Secrets, Lies, and Scandals tells the stories of five teens – all of whom have their own private crosses to bear – who have to come together to keep the circumstances under which their teacher died secret.

We’ve got Ivy, the mean girl who finds herself on the outs after a relationship gone bad; Tyler, the bad boy whose exhausting his last chance; Kinley, the perfect student with her own secrets; Mattie, who’s only in town for the summer, and really didn’t expect to find himself in a situation like this, and Cade, a repressed rage case who’s always looking for someone else to take the blame. He’s the master manipulator, and all he needs is an opening.

This is one of those novels that I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I did. None of these characters are really likable, but that adds to the story, rather than distances the reader. What do you do when there’s not one decent character in the book? You dig in for a salacious read. It’s schadenfraude at its finest – I couldn’t wait to see what these characters were going to do next. It’s a well-constructed, fast-moving read that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go until the last page, when you’re likely to yell, just like I did.

I’m going to put this one in my YA collection and booktalk the daylights out of it. Sell it like it’s How to Get Away With Murder set in high school, or an updated version of I Know What You Did Last Summer. (Then explain I Know What You Did Last Summer, because you know you’re going to get blank stares.)

Posted in Humor, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Sunblock, towel, umbrella, and The Taming of the Drew: your beach bag is set

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

tamingThe Taming of the Drew, by Stephanie Kate Strohm (Apr. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1-5107-0215-8

Recommended for ages 13+

Cass is a tough cookie high school grad from New Jersey who’s landed her first paid acting job with a Shakespeare company up in Vermont. She’s playing Kate – the shrew – in the company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, and she’ll be living with her fellow actors all summer long. The one problem? Drew, a fellow actor who’s playing Petruchio, Kate’s suitor. He’s unbearable, as Cass found out when the two got into a fender bender on the way up to the theater. UGH. Together, Cass and her two roommates decide to “tame the Drew” ala Shakespeare; playing pranks on him to tame him, much like Petruchio does to Kate in the play. As the summer progresses, Cass finds herself in a romance with a bad boy skater at the training camp next door, even as she spends more and more time hanging out with Drew.

This is a fun, light, beach read with a bit of messy romance, a generous helping of Shakespeare, some wacky theater company exercises, and a fun group of characters. Theatre fans will love the peek into the camaraderie of a small production company; romance readers will enjoy the comedy of errors and the slow burn romance, and beach readers will love the light-hearted, fun story.

Some of the characters are a little on the stereotypical side: we have the slightly flamboyant theater teen; the crunchy granola girl who’s versed in protest theater; the skater dudes that speak a language all their own, complete with drinking tricks that could have come straight from the set of MTV’s Jackass; and the whole “I hate him, but I’m in love with him by the end of the book” plot. We don’t get much of an explanation as to why Drew is so insufferable at the beginning of the story, and there’s not a lot of diversity to be found, but overall, it’s a fun ride that you’ll have no trouble diving into.

Schedule a showing of the ’90s teen movies Ten Things I Hate About You (also based on The Taming of the Shrew), Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 update of Romeo + Juliet, toss in a little Clueless (it’s based on Jane Austen’s Emma, but has the whole comedic romance down pat), and talk about modern interpretations of classics in drama and literature.